Page 27 of Clash of Storms
The light in the Blackfrost's eyes shuttered, as if he read something on her expression he'd almost been expecting to see. "I'm just teasing you, Malin. I enjoy making you blush." He eased away from her, granting her some distance from his overwhelming presence. "I'm not going to pounce."
This was said with such a dry voice and roll of his eyes, she felt ridiculous for her sudden suspicions.
And yet....
Malin peered at him closely, realizing she'd never truly looked at him like this. He'd seen through all her dissembling but was there more to the Blackfrost too?
Was he hiding his true nature behind that merciless exterior the same way she hid her own thoughts behind a servile mask?
"Perhaps when I return we'll have a chance to finish this conversation. I need to focus on Árdís, or we'll both be bowing before Prince Roar." He glanced reluctantly at his cloak. "And youwillstay here, safe in these rooms. I cannot worry about what you're doing behind my back."
Back on safe ground.Let's just pretend you didn't look at me like you wanted to devour me whole....
"Thendon'tworry about me. I am not your concern. And nobody at court will even spare me a thought." There was some convenience to being beneath the notice of her enemies. "But if Roar gets his hands on my princess—"
"Then I'll kill him."
A shiver ran down her spine.
"Only if you find her in time," she pointed out.
* * *
The second Sirius vanished,Malin released a rough exhale.
Sweet Goddess, but the blasted male stole all the oxygen in a room. She'd never been trapped in such close quarters with him before. Every nerve in her body fired a rush of exhilaration through her veins. She had this intense urge to either argue with him or flee, whenever they came into close proximity.
Malin shoved the windowpane up to try and get some air.
The people of Reykjavik bustled through the small city, going about their trade. Hammers rang; fishmongers cried their wares; and somewhere nearby a baby was crying. After the whispers and murmurs of a stifleddrekicourt, it sounded so very human that Malin's heart ached a little. Homesick. Which was a foolish thing to be, for the small village she'd grown up in had never been her home.
What was she going to do?
Without the princess, she had no one to protect her at court, and the ruse had failed. The queen either thought her complicit in Árdís's disappearance, or didn't care if she was or not. Either way, Malin's fate in the eyes of the court was dire.
She couldn't return to court.
She hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye to her father and sister. What would they be thinking? Her father wasdreki, and highly respected at court as the Lore master, but he'd be devastated by news of her disappearance.
What if he confronted the queen?
Sigurd was a royalist through and through, and had no love of theZilittuinterlopers who'd taken his king's throne when he was murdered. He kept his head down, but if he thought Malin had been made to disappear, his rage might be great enough to make him do something foolish.
She needed to get word to him.
Promise or no promise.
Shielding her face with the hood of her cloak, Malin made her way down the stairs and out the back door of the inn. She headed north, toward a small forge in the outskirts of the city, taking care not to be followed.
A drekling ran the forge. Ólafur had abandoned his role in the court years ago, preferring to make his living among humankind, but when drekling visited the city to restock supplies, they often called in. He too was a royalist who couldn't bear to see Amadea rule theZiniclan, and he often asked for news from court.
Iron rang on iron as she slipped through narrow alleys. Malin ducked inside the forge, slipping the hood from her face.
"Good day, Ólafur."
He looked up in surprise, bringing the hammer down one last time on the cherry-red sword he was working. "Malin Sigurdsdóttir. What a pleasant surprise. Grant me a couple of minutes to finish this, and I'll be able to talk."
She waited as he worked the blade to his satisfaction, before quenching it in an enormous barrel of salt water.
